Friday, March 5, 2010

'Baby Gets Attacked!'

I'll get the trauma out up front tonight since this just happened. Baby was attacked by a chow tonight. I had her down to the small dog run near my apartment when a lady with a black chow walked over. They played and spoke to each other through the fence, and instead of letting my instincts tell me I should have got her out of there, we stayed. The chow came in the gate and immediately attacked her. I don't have children, but my little dog is as close to a child as I've ever had, so instincts took over. I ended up getting the worst of it. I went in head first. The chow had her up in her soft spot behind her hind leg, and it was the first time in quite awhile when I felt that animal instinct arise, the chow is very lucky it let go, (with my hands squeezing around its neck). Once I heard Baby cry, I think I would have fought to the death. I know that sounds strange, but it was a little strange to me— to be that protective. I fell over backwards with both dogs, and once the other dog let go, I scooped up Baby and turned to face the other dog. I must have been quite ferocious as it immediately retreated. Luckily, the dog did not inflict any real damage, just a little emotional damage as she stays close to me and keeps looking at me like, "Why did that dog do that, Daddy?" Its heartbreaking really, but amazing that I feel her pain like I do. (If you don't have a dog that you love this might not make to much sense to you.) So, I suppose she will stay close to me tonight, we got her through the first real traumatic moment of her life. Baby is eleven months today, I never really believed that dogs and people find each other, but I have to tell you, this dog and I belong to each other. What a gift.

This afternoon, I got a call from David Avila, whose daughter I used to teach in Phoenix. Their family was in Phoenix for one year from Austin, and now they are back living here. David asked me if I would come to an art opening and play some music, so I am excited about that. I've been rehearsing tonight, deciding which songs to do, of course, that always changes once you get there. Austin is gearing up for its huge festival, South By Southwest, which is a week long. They even have bands playing in houses all over the city. They have film, music, computer tech, art, etc… it’s a pretty big deal. You can begin to feel the buzz all over town. Yesterday at the dog park, they were preparing for the Austin County Fair Rodeo at the fair grounds. This thing also goes on for weeks, with A level country bands and artists playing everyday. This was just one event, (a free cowboy breakfast) that took up half the park. (They really do—do things bigger here in Texas!) I've never seen a city that continues transforming itself like this city, I mean you can really feel the energy change. I remember the first time I went to New York City in the mid-eighties. From the moment the cab started to take me into Manhattan, I could feel the energy of that city begin to overwhelm me. It was dreamlike, all the books, films, television, and history that I had consumed about that city suddenly became present, it was amazing. I don't think my feet touched the ground for the whole two weeks I was there. From that trip, the only thing I could think of afterwards was how I was going to get back. Every city has its energy, LA, San Francisco, NY, and yes, Austin. It's a huge contrast to a place like Boulder, Utah, where the energy is also powerful, so much of that perpetuated by the earth and the natural wild beauty. (And there is also some amazing people that live there!) Even though I always called Boulder, 'my real home', for the whole of my life I can remember waking up there and thinking, "This kind of beauty is almost to much!" I know that may sound strange, but its true, the beauty of that landscape is utopian. I have learned though, that no matter where you might be on this earth, to appreciate the beauty of anywhere you are, you must have some peace of mind and beauty inside to make it work. You can be as 'screwed up' in paradise as you can in any 'big' city in America.

Well, tonight will have to be a shorter entry than I usually write, my head has been pounding ever since the run in with the 'Beastmaster' in me. Maybe the adrenaline went straight to my head, I don't know, a little strange how draining that 'attack' seems to be. As though my head cannot find the energy to connect thoughts. Maybe its time to get some sleep. "Dogs of the world, I warn you, don't mess with Baby, my vengeance is swift and complete…beware of the human dog."

7 comments:

Gerry said...

My word, guess you had to go back to kind of your primordial self to take care of this attack. I used to be petrified of big loose dogs when I was walking to school in SLC, but never got attacked. However, I will have to tell Dante about this, he will relate, and so will Angelina who stuck her hand in the pit bull's mouth to save her son.
Never know what kind of adventure you are going to report from Austin. Cityscape is to have a grand opening in downtown Phoenix. I got to walk down to Washington and see what is going on as the last I was there it was just a big hole in the ground. Gary worked on it. The Viad is going into foreclosure. Owner has not paid rent since December.
Sounds like Austin was not hit nearly as hard by the recession as Phoenix.
Glad you and Baby were not seriously hurt.

vooman's voice said...

You might get some alarmed readers with that headline. I thought...who would attack a baby?
I forgot about your darling "Baby."
The dog park dogs are so nice many of them don't understand the laws of the jungle. Poor Baby meeting up with a Chow. They were bred to be attack dogs. The Chow was probably very jealous of Baby's beauty and her loving master. I was telling my dogs how wonderful they were one day and a bulldogs ran down from the next block and rolled them both on the ground and then he came over and licked my hand as if to say...see, I am a better dog.

~*~Travelling Gnome Jossi~*~ said...

I feel for you and baby! I've been in a similar situation on numerous occasion, but unfortunately it's between my own dogs. We have a pit/shepard mix, Pugsley, a labradoodle, Abby, and a Basset Hound, oddly enough also named Baby. Pugsley, as we discovered, gets in a snippy/aggressive mood when there is food around and the other dogs just happen to be there too. He's started fights with the basset hound on numerous occasions (she snaps back at him when he does so and triggers the fight in him) and only once that I know of with Abby (She's very timid and avoids anything with aggressive type behavior as much as she can). I think the hardest thing when we've broken them up, is getting Pugsley to open his mouth, since he has the pit part of lock jaw. We stick anything in his mouth that we can, ranging from mop & broom ends, to the handle of a cooking pot, just to pry his mouth open to release his grip.

It is -definitely- a very tiring experience to have to go through. I'm sorry you and baby had to go through that.

Oh yeah, and -my- Baby, does what your Baby did, anytime right after a fight. She never wants to leave our sides and will whine if you're not within eyesight. Eventually she gets over it and goes back to living her happy little doggy life how it was, before the traumatic event.

LaRena said...

I once took a shovel to a BIG dog that came up and started a fight with our beloved Tuxedo. I was amazed when I got close enough to see that Tux had the other dog in a death grip. Of course I couldn't bring myself to hit him with the shovel, but I was able to talk him into letting go.(I had to promise him cheese.) The other dog trotted away looking cheapish. Oh the wrath of the dog lover.

Cheryl said...

Glad Baby (and you) survived this attack. It's always frustrating to have people that cannot control the dogs they own. We've had a couple of incidents with our dogs, one with an attack by a huge dalmation and another with two pit bulls. Both times I was so glad Steve was there to be the alpha male.

Chuckh said...

Dog Stories, not about attacks but about how amazing they are. We had a Cockerspaniel, named Daniel, yes, Daniel the Cocker Spaniel. Anyway, when my younger sister was just starting to toddle around, she somehow got out of my mother's sight and wandered off onto our property. She was lost and my mother was frantic! Then she heard Daniel barking and follwed the sound. There was my baby sister, stuck in a thorn bush on the edge of a field. The dog at her heels. My mother always used to tell that story and Daniel was very much a part of our family.

kanyonland King 2.blogspot.com said...

I tried to run over the antelope that was attacking my dog Taz with the truck. It just jumped out of the way and chashed him into the canal. We watched in relief when it didn't jump in on top, but went satisfied back to its wild life.
Taz ran the other way when an antelope jumped out, and so did I!